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Innovations

The PSNet Innovations page highlights pioneering advances that can improve patient safety. PSNet innovations are defined as “new or updated interventions, approaches, systems, tools, policies, organizational structures or business models implemented to improve or enhance quality of care and reduce harm.” The PSNet Innovations page includes innovations developed, tested, and sustained within the past five years, updates to existing innovations that were featured in AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchange, as well as “emerging innovations,” which are new, novel approaches to patient safety improvement recently published in the peer-reviewed literature.

Read more about how PSNet Innovations can be used.

PSNet innovations can be used to:

  • Identify new tactics, strategies, tools, or approaches that could be implemented by a broader audience
  • Learn about recent innovations with promising early results
  • Consider conditions that support the successful implementation or sustainment of an innovation or an emerging innovation

Future posted innovations will be curated by the PSNet team based on their impact on the provision of health care.

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Latest Innovations

Emerging Innovations

All Innovations (54)

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Displaying 21 - 40 of 54 Results

Post-discharge adverse drug events (ADEs) are one of the most common preventable harms leading to hospital readmission in the United States.1,2 To improve medication-related safety and reduce hospital readmissions, the Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) started a transitional care clinic (TCC) led by clinical pharmacy specialists (CPSs) who provide follow-up care to patients after they are discharged from the hospital or emergency department (ED). CPSs are independent mi

Studies show that home visits to patients recently discharged from the hospital can help prevent unnecessary readmission.1 Providing continuing care instructions to patients in their homes—where they may be less overwhelmed than in the hospital—may also be a key mechanism for preventing readmission.2 Home visit clinicians and technicians can note any health concerns in the home environment and help patients understand their care plan in the context of that environment.2

An increasing volume of patients presenting for acute care can create a need for more ICU beds and intensivists and lead to longer wait times and boarding of critically ill patients in the emergency department (ED).1 Data suggest that boarding of critically ill patients for more than 6 hours in the emergency department leads to poorer outcomes and increased mortality.2,3 To address this issue, University of Michigan Health, part of Michigan Medicine, developed an ED-based ICU, the first of its kind, in its 1,000-bed adult hospital.

Obtaining a best possible medication history is the cornerstone of medication reconciliation but can be resource-intensive. This comparison study assessed the impact of virtual pharmacy technicians (vCPhT) obtaining best possible medication histories from patients admitted to the hospital from the emergency department. 

With the PICC Use Initiative, the Michigan HMS, which currently includes 62 non-governmental hospitals in Michigan, aims to improve the safety of hospitalized patients by eliminating unnecessary PICC use and preventing PICC-associated complications. Since infectious diseases (ID) physician approval for PICC use is one promising strategy to reduce inappropriate use, the consortium helped promote and facilitate data collection for this patient safety strategy.

The Revised Safer Dx Instrument provides a standardized list of questions to help users retrospectively identify and assess the likelihood of a missed diagnosis in a healthcare episode. Results of the assessment are intended for use in system-level safety improvement efforts, clinician feedback, and patient safety research.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM) decision support system and targeted prevention program were designed to help mitigate risk factors for overdose and suicide among veterans who are prescribed opioids and/or with opioid use disorder (OUD) and are served by the VHA.1 Veterans, particularly those prescribed opioids, experience overdose and suicide events at roughly twice

The handshake antimicrobial stewardship program (HS-ASP) was developed and implemented at Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHCO). In 2014, the CHOC HS-ASP team began labeling specific interventions as “Great Catches” which were considered to have altered, or had the potential to alter, the patient’s trajectory of care. CHOC researchers used these "Great Catches" to identify potential diagnostic errors.

ECHO-Care Transitions (ECHO-CT) intends to ensure continuity of care and alleviate the risk of patient safety issues, notably medication errors, occurring because of hospital transition. With funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) adapted Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) to connect receiving multidisciplinary skilled nursing facility (SNF) teams with a multidisciplinary team at the discharging hospital.

The MOQI seeks to reduce avoidable hospitalization among nursing home residents by placing an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) within the care team with the goal of early identification of resident decline. In addition to the APRN, the MOQI involves nursing home teams focused on use of tools to better detect acute changes in resident status, smoother transitions between hospitals and nursing homes, end-of-life care, and use of health information technology to facilitate communication with peers. As a result of the innovation, resident hospitalizations declined.

The Behavioral Health Vital Signs (BHVS) screener is a patient questionnaire input into the electronic health record for depressive symptoms, alcohol and substance use, and interpersonal violence. Widespread staff education and a standardized workflow were developed to ensure that BHVS was implemented in all primary care clinics within the San Francisco Health Network.